System and method for normalizing job properties

ABSTRACT

This disclosure provides a system and method for normalizing job properties. In one embodiment, a job manager is operable to identify a property of a job, with the job being associated with an operating environment. The job manager is further operable to normalize the property of the job and present the normalized property of the job to a user.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of provisional application Ser. No. 60/590,405 filed Jul. 22, 2004.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to enterprise job scheduling and, more specifically, to a system and method for normalizing job properties.

BACKGROUND

There are numerous heterogeneous operating environments for jobs, applications or other processes. Typically, each of these operating environments comprise one of disparate operating systems including UNIX, Windows or Windows Server, Linux, z/OS or other mainframe OS, and others. Generally, these jobs or applications, whether enterprise or consumer, are compatible or optimized for one of these heterogeneous operating systems. Some properties of these jobs are similar across the heterogeneous systems, while others are unique to each operating system, job type, or job dependencies. For example, the status property of a job residing in an enterprise job scheduler for a mainframe system may indicate one of the following example states: “Abend,” “Requeued,” “JCL Error,” and others. But the status of a second job residing in an enterprise job scheduler for a Unix-based system may indicate one of the following example states: “Exited,” “Running,” “Suspended,” “Failed,” and such.

SUMMARY

This disclosure provides a system and method for normalizing job properties. In one embodiment, a job manager is operable to identify a property of a job, with the job being associated with an operating environment. The job manager is further operable to normalize the property of the job and present the normalized property of the job to a user. In one example, the property is a status property and the normalized status property is selected from one of the following: running; failure; waiting; success; cancel; restart; on hold; late to start; running late; inactive; and unknown.

In certain embodiments, the property is a first property, the job is a first job, and the operating environment is a first operating environment. In these embodiments, the job manager is further operable to identify a second property of a second job based on (for example) the same request from the user, with the second job associated with a second operating environment. The job manager may be further operable to normalize the second property of the second job and present the normalized second property of the second job to the user.

The details of one or more embodiments of the disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Particular features, objects, and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the description and drawings and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a heterogeneous job management system in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2A-E illustrate various configurations of an enterprise system for executing jobs in heterogeneous operating environments;

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the job manager of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example job object and job property object in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 5A-F are example displays for presenting various normalized properties of heterogeneous jobs as executed in the system of FIG. 1 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for processing a job request in one of a plurality of heterogeneous environments in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for normalizing job properties in response to a user request in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a job management system 100 for at least a portion of enterprise in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. Generally, job management system 100 identifies a property of a job 150 associated with one of the plurality of operating environments 106, dynamically normalizes the property of job 150, and presents the normalized property of job 150 to a user or module. Therefore, job management system 100 may present information associated with job 150 to a plurality of users in a common way. Put another way, job management system 100 may be operable to provide a consistent view of the information to the enterprise. Generally, users may include any user of system 100 or one of its components such as, for example, job scheduling personnel with the ability to schedule jobs, forecast future scheduling requirements, analyze and measure the effectiveness of a job flow, automate job management policies, and/or manage jobs on distributed networks. Moreover, job management system 100 may perform certain functions consistently across disparate or heterogeneous jobs 150. For example, heterogeneous jobs 150 may be sorted using one or more of the normalized properties. In another example, statistics or metrics may be gathered or determined based on the value of normalized properties. In certain embodiments, this normalization of jobs and associated properties may be customized according to the particular, user group, department, job type, and such. This customization may be securely performed through a web interface by the user or a job or network administrator.

At a high level, system 100 is all or a portion of the enterprise that includes or is communicably coupled with server 102, one or more clients 104, and a plurality of heterogeneous operating environments 106. For example, system 100 may be associated with the entire enterprise, a geographical or logical location within the enterprise, or any other portion of the enterprise. It will be understood that the enterprise may be a corporation, non-profit organization, government agency, or any other person or entity that includes, utilizes, or receives the results from multiple computing devices and operating environments 106. In other words, job management system 100 is typically a distributed client/server system that allows users of clients 104 to submit jobs 150 for execution on any of the plurality of operating environments 106. But system 100 may be any other suitable environment without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Generally, “dynamically,” as used herein, means that certain processing is determined, at least in part, at run-time based on one or more variables. Whereas the term “automatically,” as used herein, generally means that appropriate processing is substantially performed by at least part of job management system 100. It should be understood that “automatically” further contemplates any suitable administrator or other user interaction with system 100 without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

Returning to the illustrated embodiment, system 100 includes, invokes, executes, references, or is communicably coupled with a plurality operating environments 106. Each operating environment 106 is any system or subsystem operable to at least partially or fully execute or process jobs 150. For example, each operating environment 106 is one of a plurality of heterogeneous environments including Unix, Linux, Windows, or mainframe environments, as well as others. In another example, an operating environment 106 may represent a particular application. Moreover, each operating environment 106 may include one server or may be distributed across a plurality of computers. For example, illustrated system 100 includes three operating environments 106 a, 106 b, and 106 c respectively. In this example, first operating environment 106 a is server environment executing UNIX, second operating environment 106 b is a mainframe environment executing z/OS, and third operating environment is a distributed processing environment including a plurality of clients executing Windows. In another example, two operating environments 106 may be executing the same operating system, but may include different storage capabilities, file systems, or computing devices. In yet another example, two operating environments 106 may be substantively similar or identical, except for executing two disparate cyclical releases or versions of the same operating system. As illustrated in FIGS. 2A-E, each operating environment 106 typically includes one or more job schedulers 137, each of which may be tailored to, designed for, or at least partially compatible with job executing in the associated operating environment 106. In this case, “operating environment 106” and “job scheduler 137” may be used interchangeably as appropriate. Of course, illustrated operating environments 106 are for example purposes only. Indeed, while illustrated separately, server 102 may represent, include, or execute one of the operating environments 106 or one of the operating environments 106 may include or utilize server 102 without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

Illustrated server 102 includes memory 120 and processor 125 and comprises an electronic computing device operable to receive, transmit, process and store data associated with system 100. For example, server 102 may be any computer or processing device such as, for example, a blade server, general-purpose personal computer (PC), Macintosh, workstation, Unix-based computer, or any other suitable device. Generally, FIG. 1 provides merely one example of computers that may be used with the disclosure. For example, although FIG. 1 illustrates one server 102 that may be used with the disclosure, server 102 can be implemented using computers other than servers, as well as a server pool. Server 102 may be adapted to execute any operating system including Linux, UNIX, Windows Server, z/OS or any other suitable operating system. But, the present disclosure contemplates servers other than general purpose computers as well as servers without conventional operating systems. According to one embodiment, server 102 may also include or be communicably coupled with a web server and/or a data server.

Memory 120 may include any memory or database module and may take the form of volatile or non-volatile memory including, without limitation, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), removable media, or any other suitable local or remote memory component. In this embodiment, illustrated memory 120 includes job objects 140 and normalization policies 145, but may also include any other appropriate data such as a job history, a security or audit log, print or other reporting files, HTML files or templates, and others. Job objects 140 are representations of enterprise jobs and their associated properties. These jobs may be update or report batch jobs, database processing, commands, or other tasks. Each job object 140 typically comprises at least a mapping of property names to values that represent the parameters, variables, output format, or other details of the associated job. For example, job object 140 typically comprises at least a job identifier and a pointer or other reference to the appropriate or associated operating environment 106. The environment pointer may be automatically, dynamically, or manually populated based on operating system compatibility, data storage location, utilization, priority, department or business rules, geography, other criteria or characteristics, or any combination thereof. In another example, each job object may include job predecessor, job successor, triggers, calendar, VRM requirements, dataset predecessors, user requirements, and network predecessors. In certain embodiments, the constituent data may be dynamically populated based on the particular type of job. For example, in the case of a distributed job, job object 140 may include two or more identifiers of the associated operating environments, while a standalone job merely includes one environment pointer. Job object 140 may be in any appropriate logical or physical format including an executable, a Java object, text, SQL, XML, and such. Indeed, job object 140 may be a default job or a particular instance of a job as appropriate. Moreover, job object 140 may be keyed on or associated with a user, a user or security group, a department, or any other variable or property. As described in more detail below, job object 140 may include any properties operable to be normalized.

Normalization policies 145 include any parameters, variables, algorithms, instructions, rules, records, objects or other policy components for normalizing processing. For example, normalization policies 145 may include an enterprise-wide or a default normalization policy 145, thereby providing a consistent view of job properties and information. In another example, normalization policies 145 may also store a plurality of individual user normalization policies 145, each of which may be associated with a user and allowing the particular user to customize or overwrite the enterprise normalization. In one embodiment, normalization policies 145 may comprise one or more tables stored in a relational database described in terms of SQL statements or scripts. In another embodiment, normalization policies 145 may store or define various data structures such as Java objects, text files, eXtensible Markup Language (XML) documents, Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM) files, flat files, Btrieve files, comma-separated-value (CSV) files, internal variables, or one or more libraries. In short, normalization policies 145 may comprise one table, file or object or a plurality of tables, files or objects stored on one computer across a plurality of computers in any appropriate format. Moreover, normalization policies 145 may be local or remote without departing from the scope of this disclosure and store any type of appropriate data.

Server 102 also includes processor 125. Processor 125 executes instructions and manipulates data to perform the operations of server 102 such as, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a blade, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Although FIG. 1 illustrates a single processor 125 in server 102, multiple processors 125 may be used according to particular needs and reference to processor 125 is meant to include multiple processors 125 where applicable. In the illustrated embodiment, processor 125 executes job manager 130, which performs at least a portion of the management of heterogeneous jobs 150 and/or the normalization of their properties.

Job manager 130 typically comprises any software component operable to allow users access to operating environments 106, submit jobs 150, query the status or other job properties, normalize some or all of these properties, or any other appropriate job management processing. As used herein, software generally includes any appropriate combination of software, firmware, hardware, and/or other logic. For example, job manager 130 may be written or described in any appropriate computer language including C, C++, C#, Java, J#, Visual Basic, assembler, Perl, any suitable version of 4GL, another language, or any combination thereof. It will be understood that while job manager 130 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as a single multi-tasked module, the features and functionality performed by this engine may be performed by multiple modules. For example, job manager 130 may be a job scheduler and a plurality of adapters 135 (see FIG. 2). In another example, job manager 130 may comprise a connection listener 304, a request controller 308 communicably coupled with a plurality of job parsers and managers, a view controller 314, a session manager 318, a template manager 320, an adapter manager 322, and a profile manager 324 (as shown in more detail in FIG. 3). Further, while illustrated as internal to server 102, one or more processes associated with job manager 130 may be stored, referenced, or executed remotely such as GUI 116 and one or more agents residing in the appropriate operating environments 106. Moreover, job manager 130 may be a child or sub-module of another software module (not illustrated) without departing from the scope of this disclosure. In certain embodiments, job manager 130 may include or be communicably coupled with an administrative workstation 104 or graphical user interface (GUI) through interface 114. In these embodiments, job manager 130 may run as a persistent process (e.g., a daemon or service) operable to listen on a particular port through or in interface 114.

Server 102 may also include interface 114 for communicating with other computer systems, such as clients 104, over network 112 in a client-server or other distributed environment. In certain embodiments, server 102 receives job submissions or customizations from internal or external senders through interface 114 for storage in memory 120 and/or processing by processor 125. Generally, interface 114 comprises logic encoded in software and/or hardware in a suitable combination and operable to communicate with network 112. More specifically, interface 114 may comprise software supporting one or more communications protocols associated with communications network 112 or hardware operable to communicate physical signals.

Network 112 facilitates wireless or wireline communication between computer server 102 and any other local or remote computer, such as clients 104. Illustrated network 112 comprises two sub-nets or virtual LANS, 112 a and 112 b, respectively. Indeed, while illustrated as two networks, network 112 may be a continuous network without departing from the scope of this disclosure, so long as at least portion of network 112 may facilitate communications between job manager 130 and one or more of the operating environments 106. In other words, network 112 encompasses any internal or external network, networks, sub-network, or combination thereof operable to facilitate communications between various computing components in system 100. Network 112 may communicate, for example, Internet Protocol (IP) packets, Frame Relay frames, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) cells, voice, video, data, and other suitable information between network addresses. Network 112 may include one or more local area networks (LANs), radio access networks (RANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs), all or a portion of the global computer network known as the Internet, and/or any other communication system or systems at one or more locations.

Client 104 is any local or remote computing device operable to receive job submissions 150 and present output (such as properties or reports) via a GUI 116. At a high level, each client 104 includes at least GUI 116 and comprises an electronic computing device operable to receive, transmit, process and store any appropriate data associated with system 100. It will be understood that there may be any number of clients 104 communicably coupled to server 102. For example, illustrated clients 104 include one directly coupled client 104 and two communicably coupled clients to the illustrated server 102. Further, “client 104,” “job owner,” and “user” may be used interchangeably as appropriate without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Moreover, for ease of illustration, each client 104 is described in terms of being used by one user. But this disclosure contemplates that many users may use one computer or that one user may use multiple computers to submit or review jobs 150 via GUI 116. As used in this disclosure, client 104 is intended to encompass a personal computer, touch screen terminal, workstation, network computer, kiosk, wireless data port, wireless or wireline phone, personal data assistant (PDA), one or more processors within these or other devices, or any other suitable processing device or computer. For example, client 104 may comprise a computer that includes an input device, such as a keypad, touch screen, mouse, or other device that can accept information, and an output device that conveys information associated with the operation of server 102 or clients 104, including digital data, visual information, or GUI 116. Both the input device and output device may include fixed or removable storage media such as a magnetic computer disk, CD-ROM, or other suitable media to both receive input from and provide output to users of clients 104 through the display, namely GUI 116.

GUI 116 comprises a graphical user interface operable to allow the user of client 104 to interface with at least a portion of system 100 for any suitable purpose. Generally, GUI 116 provides the user of client 104 with an efficient and user-friendly presentation of data provided by or communicated within system 100. For example, GUI 116 may be a front-end of job manager 130 and provide functionality to monitor jobs and alerts, as well as a summary of the jobs and alerts. GUI 116 may provide an alternate to a Business Scheduling View (BSV) graphical interface for monitoring. Further, GUI 116 may help the user by providing certain advantages including ease-of-use, compatibility with Java and non-Java browser platforms, and performance. Conceptually, the user logs into job manager 130 through GUI 116, which then presents a list of job schedulers. By selecting a particular job scheduler, GUI 116 displays the list of active jobs on that scheduler with the appropriate normalized or raw properties. Using GUI 116, the user can define filters in order to configure his (or his group's) view to a specific set of jobs and/or job properties. After configuration, the user can save this view for later reuse. When a view is saved for later use, it may show up on a list of available, pre-configured views during login. This feature may give the user the ability to quickly see the same type of information from where he left off last time. Alternatively, the user can start on a new view by selecting from the list of job schedulers in the view. From an example “Job Status” view, the user can select a job 150 and zoom into its details, thereby easily locating or viewing the specific properties for each desired job 150. The user can also manage job 150 using this particular view of GUI 116. For example, the user can start, stop, or suspend the job, often according to the particular job scheduler 137 capabilities. In addition to the Job Status view, GUI 116 may provide “Alert” and “Dashboard” views. The example Alert view may show alerts that have been generated by job manager 130 or job scheduler 137 in response to a particular filter. The example Dashboard view may provide a statistical summary of the jobs and alerts. Moreover, the filters may be applied in the Dashboard view to set the overall severity level of the view. When multiple filters are applied to the Job Status, Alert, or Dashboard views, information from various heterogeneous job schedulers may be collected into one view. This view shows the selected job and all its direct dependencies including its immediate predecessors, successors, triggers, resource and other requirements, and the current status of each. The consolidated data is often presented in a single way in an example “Enterprise” view. Thus, the Job Status, Alert and Dashboard views (as well as others) may be types or children of certain Enterprise views. Another view may be a Map view, which graphically displays the details of a selected job or jobset. Yet another view may be a Server Configuration view, in which the administrator or other user can add, edit, and delete servers or operating environments 106 that are available to job manager 130. This view does not typically create back-end servers. Instead, it creates or populates the configuration information to access the environments 106 based on information supplied by the user. Of course, this configuration information may be automatically retrieved, received, or polled as appropriate. Of course, each view may be static and or dynamic as appropriate. Generally, static views do not change while displayed, while dynamic views automatically change at a regular update interval or dynamically update according to other criteria. In certain embodiments, GUI 116 may also present a Credentialed User view, allowing the user or administrator to add, edit, and delete Credentialed Users. The Credentialed User information provides login credentials to back-end servers or operating environments 106. Credentialed Users are set up to simplify access to the back-end servers/environments 106 and to provide an additional level of security. The portal user ID may be used as a key to access the credentialed user information. In addition to the portal user ID, the system administrator can set an environment password, which can be different than the Portal password. This feature is for users who have access to multiple back-end servers with the same user ID but different passwords for each. In addition, for each user ID in the credentialed user information, an alias ID can be set up. The alias ID can be either a group ID (one-to-many or many-to-one) or can be a user's personal ID for the back-end server. The alias ID has an associated password for the back-end server. In addition, a group user/group ID can be set to provide the credentials.

Regardless of the particular view or data, GUI 116 may comprise a plurality of customizable frames or windows having interactive fields, pull-down lists, and buttons operated by the user. In one embodiment, GUI 116 presents normalized information associated with jobs 150, including job status, and associated buttons and receives commands 170 from the user of client 104 via one of the input devices. This normalized information may be presented in tabular, graphical, and any other suitable format. Moreover, it-should be understood that the term graphical user interface may be used in the singular or in the plural to describe one or more graphical user interfaces and each of the displays of a particular graphical user interface. Therefore, GUI 116 contemplates any graphical user interface, such as a generic web browser or touch screen, that processes information in system 100 and efficiently presents the results to the user. Server 102 can accept data from client 104 via the web browser (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) and return the appropriate HTML or XML responses using network 112. For example, server 102 may receive a job submission from client 104 using the web browser, execute the particular job 150 in the appropriate operating environment 106, and present the results in the web browser.

In one aspect of operation, a user logs into job manager 130 using GUI 116 and is presented with the following example functionality or views: Administration, Monitoring, Configuration, and Event Management. Both the Administration and Monitoring views normally includes an applet deployed in an HTML page. The Configuration view is provided by a series of HTML pages that communicate with a Configuration servlet or process. The applets graphically display the objects defined in the job management system. The applet communicates with the appropriate servlet or process to send and receive data to the job management system. Event Management provides web-enabled access to the log facility. Job manager 130 may use the Jacada Terminal Emulator (JTE) to provide host emulation capabilities. In certain embodiments, the user may be provided access to certain functionality based on assignments to Portal workgroups. Based on the particular functionality selected by the user, job manager 130 may invoke a particular module from a Server/Web Server tier. This example level includes applets, servlets, servlet engines, and adapters.

Each servlet serves as a central point of communication and management between the GUI 116 (Applet and/or Portlet) and the one or more operating environments 106. The servlet is generally operable to expose a callable interface to GUI 116 to allow the end-user to configure and monitor jobs. The servlets, in turn, are operable to forward those calls into the various adapters that link with the particular environment 106. The servlets may be further operable to control client sessions. This session control typically involves session management, authentication, and persistency. As described in more detail in the embodiments of FIG. 2, each individual adapter 135 communicates with the servlets and the associated operating environment 106 and/or job scheduler 137. Adapters 135 encapsulate the job calls 150 to the operating environment 106 and/or job scheduler 137 and expose an API that the example servlets can use. In other words, once the user selects the appropriate action to take within one of the desired operating environments 106 (such as submitting a job using the associated job scheduler 137), the appropriate adapter 135 encapsulates the user command into an object 150 appropriate for the particular operating environment 106 and/or job scheduler 137. After any suitable amount of processing or job management, job scheduler 137 communicates output or job details to job manager 130 via the appropriate adapter 135 (perhaps in response to a query or automatically upon job completion or error).

At this point, adapter 135 may contain unmodified or native data from each job scheduler 137. However, normalization profiles 145 gives the user, administrator, or job manager 130 the ability to generate, select, or otherwise identify a set of normalized properties to be shown from the possible properties of the various types of jobs and operating environments 106. Job manager 130 may then utilize one or more normalization profiles 145, which in this example includes a plurality of job status property objects, to normalize the encapsulated job properties. Job manager 130 applies the job status property objects on each set of jobs in the results 160. The outcome of this process is a set of values, for each job, that are ordered and normalized as needed. This information may be displayed in a tabular format at this point for the convenience of the user using GUI 116. It could also be formatted as an XML document or embedded, included, or otherwise presented using other outputs. In short, there is no specific limitation on how the resulting set of values may be displayed or stored. There may also be a sorting function built into normalization profiles 145, job manager 130, or GUI 116. In this case, after the property objects generate the set of values, the collection can be sorted by selecting a specific normalized property to sort on. Then, using a standard sort capability such as one built into Java, a comparator object can be provided to extract the two property values from each job and compare them. The result of the sorting process is a collection of values that are sorted by the chosen property, even when the native values are disparate.

FIGS. 2A-E illustrate various configurations of enterprise system 100 for executing jobs in heterogeneous operating environments 106. Generally, these figures illustrate a job manager 130 communicating with a job scheduler 137, resident in one of the operating environments 106, via an associated adapter 135. Put another way, job manager 130 may use adapters 135 to interface, normalize, or otherwise process communications from various heterogeneous job schedulers 137.

Each adapter 135 is an object or other module that encapsulates one or more types of job schedulers 137. Adapters 135 may be written or described in any particular format or programming language. For example, adapter 135 may be a Java object. Regardless of the particular format, adapter 135 is generally operable to provide APIs to job manager 130 for communication with each job scheduler 137 to manage and monitor job information. Put another way, adapter 135 may be logically located between job manager 130 and at least the associated job scheduler 137, thereby allowing job manager to be communicably coupled with the job scheduler 137. In certain embodiments, each adapter 135 may provide this compatibility by invoking, including, exposing, or executing one or more of the following example methods:

Name Description List getJobStatus(List filters) Returns the job status data according to the given filters Job getJobDetails(Map params) Returns the job details void updateJobDetails(Job job) Updates the job details List getRunLog(RunLogFilter Returns the run log data according to filter) the given filter List getPriorRun(PriorRunFilter Returns the prior run data according filter) to the given filter void actionJob(Job job, Map Perform action on the specified job params) List getJobPreds(Job job, Map Returns the job predecessors of the params) specified job List getJobVRMs(Job job, Map Returns the job VRMs of the specified params) job void actionVRM(VRM vrm, Perform action on the specified job Map params) VRM void actionPred(Pred pred, Map Perform action on the specified job params) predecessor There may be any number of adapters 135, each compatible with any appropriate number of job schedulers 137. For example, system 100 may include a mainframe job adapter 135 that provides APIs to allow communication with a mainframe-based job scheduler 137. These APIs allow the caller to read and write to different objects that exist within the mainframe job scheduler 137. These objects may include jobs, calendars, datasets, ARFSets, ARFs, JCL, triggers and predecessors. In another example, system 100 may include a distributed job adapter 135 that provides APIs to allow communication with a distributed job scheduler 137. This example distributed job scheduler 137 may run on any distributed platform such as Windows and Unix-based operating systems. As with the mainframe adapter 135, the APIs allow the caller to read and write to different objects (such as jobs, calendars and global variables) that exist within the distributed job scheduler 137.

Job scheduler 137 is any executable, routine, service, daemon, or other module or process that is operable to execute, monitor, or otherwise manage jobs 150 in at least one operating environment 106. Typically, job scheduler 137 is associated with a particular type, format, or compatibility of job 150. But, as illustrated in the various embodiments, any job scheduler 137 may be also be configured to run as a more varied job scheduler or even a master job scheduler 137 managing a plurality of slave job schedulers 137. Moreover, while job scheduler 137 is illustrated as residing within a particular operating environment 106, it will be understood that is for example purposes only and merely illustrates that job scheduler 137 is associated with the particular environment 106. Indeed, job scheduler 137 may be distributed across a plurality of environments, computers, or data stores, without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Job scheduler 137 may be proprietary, off-the-shelf, customized, or any other type of job scheduler. Moreover, enterprise 100 may purchase, download, or otherwise obtain job scheduler 137 using any appropriate technique.

For example, FIGS. 2A-E illustrates at least a portion of system 100 that includes server 102 communicably coupled to first and second operating environments 106. In this example, each operating environment 106 includes one job scheduler 137, each operable to manage jobs 150 for that particular operating environment 106. Job manager 130, illustrated as executing on server 102, is communicably coupled to first job scheduler 137 a through a first adapter 135 a and to second job scheduler 137 b through a second adapter 135 b. But, as illustrated in the respective figures, adapters 135 may reside on server 102 and/or the associated operating environment 106 as appropriate. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2A, job manager 130 locally includes, loads, or otherwise invokes adapter 135 a for executing job 150 a, receiving or retrieving job status 160 a, or other communications, commands, instructions, and such to first job scheduler 135 a. In another example, as illustrated in FIG. 2B, one or more of the adapters 135 may act as an agent, service, or daemon residing within the operating environment 106 for the appropriate job scheduler 137. In this example, job manager 130 may invoke or interact with remote adapter 135 using a particular port, socket, or method. In yet another embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 2D, job manager 130 may include one of the job schedulers 137 operable to schedule heterogeneous jobs 150 to a plurality of operating environments 106. In this embodiment, job manager 130 may be considered a logical all-in-one module with internal job scheduling, adapting, and normalizing processes and capabilities.

As illustrated in FIG. 2E, a particular job scheduler 137 or other application (job manager 130 or other non-illustrated application) may be designed or implemented as a “metascheduler” (137 a) that caters to more than one type of job 150 or is compatible with more than one operating environment 106. In this scenario, job scheduler 137 a can manage heterogeneous jobs on different platforms, operating systems, or other environments 106. When job scheduler 137 a provides the information about such jobs, it may automatically normalize the properties of these jobs. As illustrated, the “metascheduler” 137 a could also control subordinate schedulers 137 b and 137 c, respectively. “Metascheduler” 137 a may be operable to consolidate and normalize the information obtained from the subordinates 137 b and 137 c as appropriate.

In one aspect of operation, illustrated in example FIG. 2C, when retrieving the details or properties of jobs, adapter 135 communicates with job scheduler 137 to get the raw values of these job properties. After adapter 135 receives the information, it then translates and normalizes certain properties into a common set of values. In particular, the status property of job 150 is mapped from the set of job scheduler-specific values into a common or customized set of values. In some cases, more than one raw value may be used to map to the common set of values. For example, a mainframe job may include three properties that determine the normalized job status value. These example properties are: queue name, status and specific status. In this example, the raw values are used in combination to map to a common normalized value.

Normalized Mainframe Raw Value Windows/ Value (Queue/Status/Specific Status) Unix Raw Value Running ACT/any status except WARN/any Running specific status Waiting REQ/any status except WARN or ERRX/ Starting, Inactive, any specific status except RESTART Activated, Queue RDY/any status except WARN/any Wait specific status Success CMP/any status except CANCEL/ Success any specific status Failure REQ/ERRX/any specific status Failure REQ/any status/RESTART Cancel CMP/CANCEL/any specific status Terminated Restart Late to Start On Hold REQ/WARN/HOLD Hold Late to Start REQ/WARN/any specific status RDY/WARN/any specific status Running Late ACT/WARN/any specific status Inactive FOR/any status/any specific status Unknown other values or combinations other values In other words, the normalization of job properties can also be performed in job manager 130 instead of the associated adapter 135. Indeed, an example Job Status Console of GUI 166 may also be operable to normalize of the status property of the jobs. That is, adapter 135 may perform no normalizing translation when the raw data is retrieved from the job scheduler 137. This information is then returned to the caller, which is job manager 130 or GUI 116 as appropriate. The calling application then normalizes the job properties using, for example, a technique of mapping the raw values into a set of common values using normalization policies 145.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the job manager 130. At a high level, this embodiment of job manager 130 includes a connection listener 304, a request controller 308 communicably coupled with a plurality of job parsers and managers, a view controller 314, a session manager 318, a template manager 320, an adapter manager 322, and a profile manager 324. But, of course, these sub-modules are for example purposes only and job manager 130 may include none, some, or all of (as well as other) the illustrated sub-modules. Moreover, one or more of the sub-modules may be remote, dynamically linked, or invoked as appropriate.

Connection listener 304 is any module, library, object, or other process operable to listen (such as on a known port(s)) for connections from clients 104. For example, connection listener 304 may include or implement the following example properties:

Name Description portList List of server ports serverSocketList List of server sockets connectionThreadManager Connection thread manager Connection listener 304 may also execute or invoke the following example methods:

Name Description void init( ) Initialize the server listener void destroy( ) Destroy the server listener void addPort(int portNumber) Add a listener port void removePort(int portNumber) Remove a listener port

Connection listener 304 may include or be communicably coupled with connection pool 302. Connection pool 302 may be any thread manager module or data structure operable to dispatch outgoing messages to the connection threads for processing. In certain embodiments, connection pool 302 is at least partially responsible for maintaining connection threads for communications between job manager 130 and clients 104. The following table shows example properties of connection pool 302:

Name Description threadList List of connection threads workerPool Worker pool And the following table shows example methods of the connection pool:

Name Description void init( ) Initialize the manager void destroy( ) Destroy the manager void addConnection(Socket Add a new socket connection and socket) instantiate a connection thread to handle it void Destroy the socket connection thread destroyConnection(Socket socket) void sendMessage Send a message to the first available (ResponseMessage msg) connection After a connection is established, it is assigned to a connection thread in the connection pool, for processing communications. Generally, a connection thread manages a particular connection. For example, the connection may be keyed on or assigned a socket. For example, when an outgoing message is to be sent out, the thread sends the message through the connection using the appropriate socket. When an incoming request is received from client 104, the thread reads the message and unpacks it into a message object. This object is then handed off to the worker pool 306 for processing.

Worker pool 306 is any object or data structure representing the pool of worker threads. Generally, each worker thread object represents a thread that can perform a particular task. For example, the worker thread may accept a unit of work and perform or execute it. When the task is completed, the worker is typically released back into worker pool 306. Worker threads are handed out to perform tasks on behalf of client 104. In certain embodiments, worker pool 306 can be configured to start with a particular number of threads and automatically grow to handle higher loads as necessary. Worker pool 306 may include the following example properties:

Name Description workerThreadList List of worker threads connectionPool Connection pool and implement the following example method:

Name Description void process( RequestMessage message) Process the given request message Illustrated worker pool 306 is communicably coupled with request controller 308.

Request controller 308 is any module, object, or other process operable to route incoming messages to the appropriate objects 310 and 312. For example, the message may first be sent to the appropriate parser object 310 so that the message may be parsed into a request object. There may be many kinds of request objects, such as one for each type of request. For example, the following table illustrates a number of example request objects:

Type Parameter Description Server Connect server Name of server user User name credential password Password credential Server Disconnect server Name of server Get Job Status server Name of server view Name of job status view Scroll Job Status view Name of job status view scroll size Scrolling size scroll direction Direction (forward or back) Sort Job Status view Name of job status view property Which property to scroll by direction Ascending or descending Save Job Status view Name of job status view old view name Previous name of job status view (if any) other parameters Other configuration parameters Delete Job Status view Name of job status view Get Job Details job name Name of job server Server name job number Job number job properties Other job parameters Update Job Details job name Name of job server Server name job number Job number job properties Other job parameters Job Action job name Name of job server Server name job number Job number job properties Other job parameters action properties Action parameters Get Run Log server Server name view View name Save Run Log view View name old view name Previous name of run log view, if any Delete Run Log view Delete the run log view Get Prior Run server Server name view View name Save Prior Run view View name old view name Previous name of prior run view, if any Delete Prior Run view Delete the prior run view Get Alerts server Server name view View name Update Alerts server Server name view View name alert properties Alert properties filter properties Filter properties Alert Action alert properties Alert properties action parameters Parameters to alert action Get Dashboard server Server name view View name Update Dashboard server Server name view View name dashboard properties Dashboard properties filter properties Filter properties Open session Create new session Close session session ID Destroy session In certain embodiments, the request object encapsulates data pertinent to the request, including ID, session, request parameters, and more. For example, the request object may have the following properties:

Name Description requestId Request ID session Session response Response to this request, if any Each request object may implement or invoke the following example methods:

Name Description int getRequestId( ) Returns the request ID void setRequestId( int id ) Sets the request ID Session getSession( ) Returns the session void setSession( Session Sets the session session ) IResponse getResponse( ) Returns the response associated with this request, if any void setResponse( Sets the response IResponse response ) Based on the incoming message's request ID, a parser manager provides the appropriate parser object 310 to unpack the message into the request object. Parser object 310 is then invoked to unpack the message. It will be understood that there may be any number of parser objects 310, such as one for each type of request. For example, the parser manager may include or be coupled with one or more of the following example parser objects 310:

Name Description JobStatusParser Parses requests pertaining to job status JobDetailsParser Parses requests pertaining to job details JobActionsParser Parses requests pertaining to job actions ServerParser Parses requests pertaining to server actions OEParser Parses requests pertaining to operating environment specific objects AlertParser Parses requests pertaining to alerts DashboardParser Parses requests pertaining to dashboard SessionParser Parses requests pertaining to session These example parser objects 310 may implement, execute, or produce the following request messages:

Parser Request Message JobStatusParser Get Job Status Scroll Job Status Sort Job Status Save Job Status Delete Job Status JobDetailsParser Get Job Details Update Job Details JobActionsParser Job Action ServerParser Server Connect Server Disconnect CA7Parser Get Run Log Save Run Log Delete Run Log Get Prior Run Save Prior Run Delete Prior Run AlertParser Get Alerts Update Alerts Alert Action DashboardParser Get Dashboard Update Dashboard SessionParser Open Session Close Session

After the request object is produced by parser object 310, the request is routed to one of the handler objects 312 for subsequent processing. The handler manager processes a request object, which often includes the object ID. Based on the request object ID and other information, the handler manager routes the request object to the correct handler object 312. Each handler 312 is responsible for processing the request using operating environment 106, adapters 135, and job schedulers 137 as appropriate. As with parser objects 310, there are typically many handler objects 312, such as one for each type of request. In certain embodiments, each handler 312 is responsible for performing or requesting the work that is requested. For example, each handler may be operable to load, invoke, or communicate with the appropriate adapter 135 based on the request object. As a result of its processing, a response object is produced. This response object is returned along with the request object, after processing (typically through adapter 135). The following table shows an example list of handlers 312:

Name Description JobStatusHandler Processes requests pertaining to job status JobHandler Processes requests pertaining to job details JobHandler Processes requests pertaining to job actions ServerHandler Processes requests pertaining to server actions OEHandler Processes requests pertaining to OE specific objects AlertHandler Processes requests pertaining to alerts DashboardHandler Processes requests pertaining to dashboard SessionHandler Processes requests pertaining to the session The following table maps requests to example handlers:

Handler Request JobStatusHandler Get Job Status Scroll Job Status Sort Job Status Save Job Status Delete Job Status JobHandler Get Job Details Update Job Details Job Action OEHandler Get Run Log Save Run Log Delete Run Log Get Prior Run Save Prior Run Delete Prior Run AlertHandler Get Alerts Update Alerts Alert Action DashboardHandler Get Dashboard Update Dashboard SessionHandler Open session Close session As described above, the processing by each handler object 312 results in a response object. This example response object is then fed into view, controller 314 to produce the response that, in turn, is returned as the outgoing message to client 104.

View controller 314 routes a processed request object (along with its response object, if any) to the correct objects. First, the request is fed to a view manager, which is operable to generate a view for use by GUI 116. The view manager provides, calls, or other executes view handlers to process requests into views. For example, it may route the request to the correct view handler. There are any number of handler objects, such as one for each type of view.

Name Description JobStatusHandler Processes responses pertaining to job status JobDetailsHandler Processes responses pertaining to job details JobActionsHandler Processes responses pertaining to job actions ServerHandler Processes responses pertaining to server actions CA7Handler Processes responses pertaining to CA-7 specific objects AlertHandler Processes responses pertaining to alerts DashboardHandler Processes responses pertaining to dashboard The view manager is responsible for processing the given request into an end-user view. As a result of its processing, a view object is produced or updated. This view object is returned along with the request object after processing. After the view is produced, the response object is then sent back to client 104. It will be understood that the response object may comprise any particular data or instruction in any suitable format. There may be any number of types or sub-classes of response objects. For example,

Type Property Description Server Connect Server Disconnect Get Job Status jobStatus Job Status object Scroll Job Status jobStatus Job Status object Sort Job Status jobStatus Job Status object Save Job Status jobStatus Job Status object Delete Job Status Get Job Details job Job object Update Job Details job Job object Job Action job Job object action returns Other action return values Get Run Log RunLog Run Log object Save Run Log RunLog Run Log object Delete Run Log Get Prior Run PriorRun Prior Run object Save Prior Run PriorRun Prior Run object Get Alerts alerts Alerts object Update Alerts alerts Alerts object Alert Action alert Alert object action returns Other action return values Get Dashboard dashboard Dashboard object Update Dashboard dashboard Dashboard object Open session session Session object In certain embodiments, the response object encapsulates most or all of the data pertinent to the response, such as output information, errors, and more. This response object may include some or all of the following example properties:

Name Description request Request associated with this response, if any buffer Buffer containing response exception Exception, if any errorMessage Error message, if any errorCode Error code, if any Moreover, in certain embodiments, the response object may include the following example methods:

Name Description IRequest getRequest( ) Returns the request associated with this response void setRequest( IRequest Sets the request request ) StringBuffer getBuffer( ) Returns the response buffer void setBuffer( StringBuffer Sets the response buffer buffer )

Illustrated job manager 130 also includes session manager 318. In this embodiment, session manager 318 is any module generally responsible for handling sessions. In other words, it creates, stores, and destroys sessions that are assigned to each unique client 104, often utilizing a map of the current sessions. The session typically maintains persistent information for a unique client 104 for the lifetime of the connection. Certain back-end objects specific to client 104 are stored and reachable from the client's session. In certain embodiments, session manager 318 implements the following example methods:

Name Description Session createSession( ) Creates a new session void destroySession( Destroy the given session Session session ) Session findSession( String Return the session that matches sessionId ) the given session ID, if any void init( ) Initialize the session manager void destroy( ) Destroy the session manager Session manager 318 may automatically cull inactive or abandoned sessions that exceed a timeout period. For example, certain sessions are governed by an idle timeout. If this session is kept idle beyond a configurable timeout period, then session manager 318 may clean it up automatically. In this example, all objects—views, models, adapters, etc.—associated with the session are destroyed. A next request by the user may result in an error indicating an unknown session or bad session. But, if the view is dynamic, then the view may be responsible for sending the timeout event at the point where the manager cleans up the session (and its views).

Template manager 320 may be any module operable to manage templates, which are generally stored as objects in HTML files with placeholder variables representing dynamic sections. But in certain circumstances, templates may not be complete <html> blocks. Some may represent small sections of a complete page such as a frame, table, graph, etc. At runtime, the component sections are typically replaced by the actual data. Template objects are identified by their file names. Since they are often uniquely named on the file system, there may be no need to invent a new tagging scheme to identify them. Once requested, executed, or otherwise located, a transformation of the template yields the output that is returned to the user through GUI 116. During startup, initialization, or at any other appropriate time, job manager 130 reads in or loads the desired templates. Templates are often preprocessed after they are read from the file system. Each template may be encapsulated inside an object that uses a vector. Each entry in the vector contains an internal object that is either a static portion of the template or a dynamic portion represented by a variable name. When the entries are traversed in order and printed out, the resulting output resembles the template file. This process may be called printing. The template object exposes the printing functionality with a parameter. The caller provides a map that contains variable names and values as its parameter. When the template object encounters a variable name in the vector while printing, it uses the map to resolve the variable name into a value. That value is then printed in lieu of the variable; otherwise, the variable may be deemed empty. Sometimes, template manager 320 executes code in response to a variable entry in the vector. The caller can register callbacks with the object for this scenario. Callbacks can be registered for specific variable name, index number, or all variables. Parameters to a callback include the current vector entry and working buffer of the printing process. Template manager 320 hands these objects out to transformers as necessary. Transformers can use the same template object simultaneously. In this scenario, the template object is responsible for safely supporting multiple callers.

Adapter manager 322 is responsible for handling adapter wrappers, often utilizing a map of adapters. The adapter wrapper encapsulates a local or back-end adapter 135. By providing a high-level interface layer on top of each adapter 135, the wrapper provides a consistent and semantic set of methods to each type of job scheduler. Typically, adapter manager 322 creates, stores, and destroys wrappers that are assigned to each unique back-end connection or environment 106. In certain embodiments, adapter manager 322 implements the following example methods:

Name Description AdapterWrapper Creates or returns the adapter wrapper for this server getAdapter( String server ) void init( ) Initialize the adapter manager void destroy( ) Destroy the adapter manager

Profile manager 324 is responsible for handling profile objects such as, for example, servers, users, groups and views. In this example, the server profile object encapsulates a configured server, the user profile object encapsulates a user record, the group profile object encapsulates a Portal group record, and the view profile object encapsulates a view record. The profile manager 324 communicates with configuration, Portal, and its own data store to create, update and delete these objects. In certain embodiments, profile manager 324 includes the following example methods:

Name Description ServerProfile getServer Returns the server profile matching the given (String serverName ) name UserProfile getUser(String Returns the user profile matching the userName ) given name GroupProfile getGroup Returns the group profile matching the given (String groupName ) name ViewProfile getView Returns the view profile matching the given (String userName, String name, that is accessible to the user viewName ) List getServers( ) Returns the list of servers List getUsers( ) Returns the list of users List getGroups( ) Returns the list of groups List getViews(String Returns the list of views that are accessible username ) to the user It will be understood that the foregoing sub-modules, properties, and methods are for illustration purposes only. Indeed, each of these sub-modules, properties, and methods may or may not be present in certain job managers 130. Put another way, job manager 130 includes any processes or data storage operable manage jobs 150 and may include none, some, or all of the foregoing example embodiments without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

In one aspect of operation, a flow describes a path of execution of a client request through job manager 130. The request typically originates from GUI 116 and results in a new or updated page that is returned to the browser. When the servlet receives a request, it is routed the request controller 308. This controller 308 produces a request object that encapsulates the HTTP request and response. Request controller 308 then forwards this object to parser manager 310. Parser manager 310 is comprised of one or more parsers. Each parser inspects the request and breaks it down into various pieces of information as appropriate. For example, the session ID and request ID are extracted. The parser may use this information to look up objects that are relevant to the request. For example, the session ID translates to a session object. When control returns to request controller 308 from the parser, the request object is forwarded to handler manager 312.

Handler manager 312 is comprised of one or more handlers. Based on information in the request object such as the request ID, handler manager 312 forwards the request to the corresponding handler. Each handler may be considered an “atomic” piece of business logic dedicated to servicing a request. A handler often depends on other objects to accomplish its work. Some of these objects include adapters 135, model objects, and other manager objects. For example, when a job status handler executes, it uses the correct adapter instance 135 in conjunction with the job status model object to accomplish its work. When the handler finishes its work, it produces a response object. A response object can contain different pieces of information such as output data, error codes, and others. Handler manager 312 returns this response object to request controller 308.

Request controller 308 forwards the response object to view controller 314. View controller 314 is comprised of one or more view objects. Each object is dedicated to producing a specific view such as job status. The job status response object provides the information to the view to produce the output for the browser. Views are normally closely tied to templates. Template manager 320 provides HTML templates that form the basis for the output. The final output is a combination of data from a response object and a template. After the output is composed, view controller 314 sends it to client 104. Control then returns to request controller 308 and out of the servlet.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example record or object in normalization policy 145 and child or associated job property object in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. At a high level, normalization policy 145 includes a number of records or objects. For example, one record or object (such as a Java job status model object) represents the job status view for a particular job 150. In certain embodiments, each object 145 contains a collection of Job Status Filters 402 and properties 404. Job Status Filter 402 represents a particular filter in the view associated with operating environment 106. Job Status Filter 402 may implement the filter using any suitable format. For example, Job Status Filter 402 may be a collection of tuple objects. Each example tuple object comprises three values: property name, property operator, and property value. The property name contains the name or alias of the property that is matched from the job definition or instance. For example, the name could be “Job ID” representing the ID number of the job. The property operator contains the type of comparison to perform on the property value. For example, the operator could be “=” representing the “equals” comparison. The property value contains the value to match or compare. For example, the value could be “100.” In certain embodiments, Job Status Filter 402 may allow multiple property operators and/or property values in the same tuple. For example, there could be multiple values specified in a special format as the property value, such as “100,101,102.” The interpretation of the specification of multiple property operators and/or property values in the filter may depend on the property name in question. In addition to the collection of tuple objects, Job Status Filter 402 may contain a reference, identifier, or other pointer to an instance of the associated one or more job schedulers 137. As described above in FIGS. 2A-E, each instance of a job scheduler 137 may be identified by a machine name, network address, database name, or a combination of system, network, database and proprietary identifiers that represent a unique installation of the associated job scheduler 137 or operating environment 106. This reference may later be resolved to the set of information in order to perform a network connection or API call into that instance of a job scheduler 137. In one aspect of operation, normalization policy 145 is accessed by first grouping the Job Status Filter objects according to their references to instances of job schedulers 137. For example, if there are three filter objects and two of them refer to “Job Scheduler Instance 1” and the third refers to “Job Scheduler Instance 2,” then two filter groups may be formed: one for Instance 1, which contains two filter objects, and another for Instance 2, which contains one filter object. Then normalization policy 145 distributes each filter group to a unique worker thread for processing. Job manager 130 then waits for the threads to complete the processing before continuing.

Property 404 includes any job property, status, variable, characteristic, object, or other component operable to include, identify, or reference or a particular of the associated job. For ease of readability, property 404 may be referred to as job status property objects, but this is not meant to limit the scope of the disclosure. Such an example job status property object may have three purposes. First, it represents a specific property of job 150 such as, for example, the property object may represent the name of job 150. Second, the object may be operable to extract the value of the property that it represents from job 150. So, for example, when a property object that represents the name of job 150 is “applied” to a job object that is named “Job A,” the result is the value “Job A.” Job status property also may convert the value into a normalized format, instead of keeping the unmodified or raw value. This is typically beneficial when jobs 150 from two different types of job schedulers 137 provide different values that are actually equivalent for the same type of property. For example, a property object that represents the status of job 150 may extract two different values from two heterogeneous jobs 150, such as “Completed” and “0.” However, both values are substantively equivalent because they are both interpreted as successful statuses in the two schedulers 137. Therefore, the property object can translate the two values into a single normalized value such as “Success,” a “completed,” “0,” and others. Properties 404 may each include a name and a value. Generally, many properties in normalization policy 145 may be normalized. Accordingly, in some embodiments, property 404 may each also comprise a mapping of the particular property value and the associated normalized value. In certain embodiments, property object 404 includes a method operable to normalize the value or includes metadata associated with the particular value type that allows subsequent modules to normalize the value. In other words, each property 404 operable to be normalized may be a collection of tuple objects. For example, one tuple object may comprises the property identifier, the property value, and the default normalized value. In another example, one tuple object may comprise an identifier of the operating environment 106, the property identifier, the property value, and the default normalized value. In a further example, one tuple object may comprise the user ID or group ID, the property identifier, the property value, and the associated or customized normalized value. Of course, these examples and the associated illustration are for readability purposes only. Normalization policies 145 may be in any format and may include any suitable data. Moreover, job manager 130 may use any appropriate component or technique to normalize the data without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

FIGS. 5A-F are example displays for presenting various normalized properties of heterogeneous jobs as executed in accordance with one embodiment of system 100. It will be understood that illustrated web pages 116 a-116 f, respectively, are for example purposes only. Accordingly, GUI 116 may include or present data, such as normalized or raw job properties, in any format or descriptive language and each page may present any appropriate data in any layout without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

Turning to the illustrated embodiments, FIG. 5A illustrates an example job requirements or job properties view 116 a. In this view 116 a, the user may be able to view or modify various properties of job 150 or jobset. In other words, job properties view 116 a is a graphical representation of the objects that can be included in the definition of the job. Job objects may include: job predecessor; job successor; triggers; calendar; VRM requirements; dataset predecessors; user requirements; and network predecessors. The dialog may be a modeless frame that contains a context sensitive panel for displaying the graphical view of the selected item's objects. This frame may contain a palette on the left side that has a list of objects that can be created for the selected object. On the right may be the graphical layout of the objects for the selected item. Users may have the option to drag items from the palette and drop them onto the graphical layout. Dragging and dropping an object may create a new object, but the user often fills in the properties for that object in the main view. Upon dropping the object, an icon may appear in the graphical layout. Also, the main view may select the new object and display its properties so the user may fill in any missing attributes. Until the user fills in required properties, all icons representing the new object may have a graphical design that alerts the user that the object is incomplete.

Accordingly, job properties view 116 a gives the user the ability to drag existing objects into the job properties view 116 a from the main panel's tree view. Job properties view 116 a may not allow invalid objects to be dropped and the cursor may change to a “No” symbol to notify the user. When a valid object is dropped, an icon may appear in the job properties view 116 layout and the main view may select the dropped object and display its properties. Job properties view 116 a may always be locked onto the object that was selected when it was launched. Users may have the ability to select objects in the main view without job properties view 116 a changing. When the user is finished changing the requirements for job 150 or jobset, the applet may provide the option to either close the dialog or change the job properties view 116 a's selection to edit another object's requirements. Job properties view 116 a may display a blank panel if the user deletes the selected job 150 or jobset from the view. When the user selects an object in job properties view 116 a, the main view may select the same object and display its properties.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example job status view 116 b. In certain embodiments, job status view 116 b consolidates the jobs that are filtered for that particular view and displays associated properties. Of course, this view may be customizable across the enterprise or individually. In other words, the particular view may display properties as selected by the user. This view can be sorted by column (or property). The user is also allowed to scroll between sets of jobs when the number of jobs exceeds the window size set for the view. Also, the user is allowed to jump directly into a specific set, the starting set, and the ending set. The order of the properties can also be defined. Often, job status view 116 b displays the normalized properties, opposed to the raw data. This allows the user to sort, filter, and otherwise view heterogeneous jobs in a consistent interface. For example, the first two displayed jobs “testjob” and “WhereDidAllTheBoxJobsGo” may be a UNIX job and a mainframe job, respectively. Yet, view 116 b presents a common property, “Success,” for both jobs after normalizing the native values.

FIG. 5C provides an example overall view 116 c of all the various BSVs, to which the particular user has access, in list type view. For each BSV, view 116 c shows the number of objects in various pre-defined statuses. When user navigates through rows of the list view by pressing the left mouse button or the up/down arrow keys in the keyboard, the toolbar will show the corresponding enabled icons for the selected BSV. When there is a selected row and user sorts the rows, the toolbar icons will be enabled/disabled according to the newly selected row object after the sort. If user right-clicks any row, a context menu will appear that shows the same enabled menu items, and the toolbar icons will be enabled/disabled accordingly. As with the other views, view 116 c may display or process the various properties after appropriate ones have been normalized.

FIGS. 5D, 5E, and 5F illustrates various graphical or tabular views (116 d 116 e, and 116 f) of the various jobs and job properties. For example, the user may select a loaded BSV from the tree, resulting in the BSV details in multiple tabs in the right pane. In this case, this view summarizes the status of the jobs and jobsets included in this BSV and can be displayed as a bar chart or pie chart. These charts show the number of jobs at different status. Each status is represented with a color and this helps in understanding the overall health of the system at a glance. The user can typically switch between these two chart styles using the toolbar option. As with the other views, views 116 d 116 e, and 116 f may each display or process the various properties after appropriate ones have been normalized.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 600 for submitting a job 150 in one or more of a plurality of heterogeneous operating environments 106 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. At a high level, method 600 includes receiving a job submission from a user and executing job 150 in the appropriate operating environment 106 (or operating environments 106). The following description focuses on the operation of job manager 130 in performing method 600. But system 100 contemplates using any appropriate combination and arrangement of logical elements implementing some or all of the described functionality.

Method 600 begins at step 602, where job manager 130 receives a job request from the user, typically using client 104. But, as described above, the user may submit job request directly to server 102 without departing from the scope of method 600. The job request may comprise one or more of the following types of jobs: an update job, a command, a task, or any other appropriate enterprise job or request. Next, at step 604, job manager 130 authenticates the user. This authentication may include verifying that the user can submit this particular type of job, can update the requested or associated data, or any other security or authentication procedure or technique. Of course, while not illustrated, modules other than job manager 130 may perform this authentication and communicate the results to job manager 130. Job manager 130 then identifies a job object 140 using the received job request at step 606. For example, the job request may include a job identifier or other pointer. In this example, job manager 130 queries the plurality of job objects 140 to determine the particular job object 140 associated with the request based on the pointer. Once the appropriate job object 140 is identified, Job manager 130 identifies operating environments 106 for the job at step 608. As described above, in the case of a distributed job, there may be more than one operating environment 106 associated with the job. Job manager 130 may identify the appropriate operating environment 106 using any suitable technique. For example, job manager 130 may determine the appropriate operating system to execute the job. In another example, job manager 130 may identify the location of the data storage associated with the job request. In yet another example, job manager 130 may identify the appropriate virtual location for executing the job request. Next, at step 610, job manager 130 invokes a job scheduler 137 in the identified operating environment 106. Once job manager 130 has invoked job scheduler, it may execute the job using the invoked job scheduler 137 at step 612. It will be understood that this execution may include an immediate submission, adding the job to queue associated with the invoked job scheduler, or any other appropriate technique.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating example method 700 for normalizing job properties in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. Generally, method 700 describes one example technique for job manager 130 to receive one or more properties associated with a job, identify the appropriate mapping for the normalization of at least a portion of these properties, and communicating them to a particular user or application. It will be understood that method 700 is for illustration purposes only and that the described or similar techniques may be performed at any appropriate time, including concurrently, individually, or in combination. The following descriptions will focus on the operation of job manager 130 in performing this method. But, as with the previous flowchart, system 100 contemplates using any appropriate combination and arrangement of logical elements implementing some or all of the described functionality.

Method 700 begins at step 702, where server 102 receives a status request from a user, typically at client 104. Next, at step 704, job manager 130 loads a default normalization policy 145. Of course, job manager 130 may load the default normalization policy 145 at startup, initialization, or any at other appropriate time. At decisional step 706, job manager 130 determines if the requesting user is associated with a user normalization policy 145. For example, job manager 130 may parse the status request to identify the user ID. In another example, job manager 130 may store an alias for the requesting user for the various back-end operating environments 106. In yet another example, job manager may receive a user identifier from GUI 116 or another module. Once job manager 130 has sufficiently identified the appropriate user, job manager 130 loads the user normalization policy 145 at step 708 if appropriate.

Once the one or more normalization policies 145 have been loaded or identified, job manager 130 identifies a first job 150 associated with the status request at step 710. Next, job manager 130 identifies a first job property for the identified job at step 712. For example, the job property may be job status property object stored in server 102. In another example, job manager 130 may query the appropriate operating environment 106 through an adapter 135. This job property may comprise a status, name, output, or any other appropriate data or characteristic. At decisional step 714, job manager 130 determines if a data map exists for the identified job property in the loaded user normalization policy 145. If the map does not exist, then job manager 130 selects the data mapping from the default normalization policy 145 at step 718. If the user normalization policy 145 does include the appropriate data map, the job manager 130 selects, loads, or otherwise identifies the data map in user normalization policy 145 at step 716. It will be understood that job manager 130 may select the data map using any appropriate technique such as, for example, loading a job status property object based on property name, identifying an algorithm associated with the user, job, operating environment one of six, and property, or any other appropriate technique. Once the appropriate data mapping has been identified, job manager 130 normalizes the identified job property using the appropriate data map at step 720.

Next, at decisional step 722, job manager 130 determines if there are more properties associated with the particular job 150. If there are, then job manager 130 identifies the next job property for the particular job at step 724 and processing returns to decisional step 714. Once there no more properties associated with the particular job 150, then job manager 130 determines if there are more jobs associated with the status request at decisional step 726. If there are more jobs, then job manager 130 identifies a next job 150 using the status request at step 728 and processing returns to step 712. Once the status request has been appropriately processed, then job manager 130 generates a presentation including the normalized properties at step 730. In certain embodiments, job manager 130 may identify the appropriate template and embed the normalized properties in the template. In another embodiment, job manager 130 may identify a dynamic page already resident on the appropriate client 104. In this case, job manager 130 may encapsulate the normalized properties in a presentation object for communication to client 104. Next, at step 732, job manager 130 communicates the presentation or presentation object to the requesting user at client 104.

The preceding flowcharts and accompanying description illustrate exemplary methods 600 and 700. In short, system 100 contemplates using any suitable technique for performing these and other tasks. Accordingly, many of the steps in these flowcharts may take place simultaneously and/or in different orders than as shown. Moreover, system 100 may use methods with additional steps, fewer steps, and/or different steps, so long as the methods remain appropriate.

Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certain embodiments and generally associated methods, alterations and permutations of these embodiments and methods will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of example embodiments does not define or constrain this disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are also possible without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. 

1-41. (canceled)
 42. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for providing a job manager, the computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions thereon for configuring one or more processing devices to perform a plurality of operations comprising: receiving at least one job property of a job operating on at least one operating environment of a plurality of operating environments, wherein the at least one job property is received in a job scheduling nomenclature of the at least one operating environment, wherein the job scheduling nomenclature of the at least one operating environment is different from a job scheduling nomenclature of at least a second of the plurality of operating environments; identifying at least one normalization profile associated with the at least one operating environment; and applying the at least one normalization profile to the received at least one job property, a result of the application being at least one value associated with the at least one job property, the at least one value being a normalized job property of the at least one job property in a normalized job scheduling nomenclature.
 43. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 42, wherein the plurality of operations further comprise receiving a request from a user for the at least one job property and providing the at least one normalized job property to the user.
 44. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein receiving a request from a user for the at least one job property further comprises, receiving an incoming message from the user, and parsing the message into one or more request objects, wherein each of the one or more request objects include one or more request parameters.
 45. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 42, wherein identifying at least one normalization profile further comprises identifying at least one normalization profile from among a plurality of normalization profiles, and wherein at least a second normalization profile of the plurality of normalization profiles is associated with at least the second operating environment.
 46. The non transitory computer readable medium of claim 42, the plurality of operations further comprising: receiving at least a second job property of a job operating on the at least a second of the plurality of operating environments, wherein the at least a second job property is received in a job scheduling nomenclature of the at least a second of the plurality of operating environments; identifying at least a second normalization profile associated with the at least a second of the plurality of operating environments; and applying the at least a second normalization profile to the received at least a second job property, a result of the application being at least a second value associated with the at least a second job property, the at least a second value being a second normalized job property of the at least a second job property in the normalized job scheduling nomenclature.
 47. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 46, wherein the at least one job property and the at least a second job property comprise different values and the normalized job property and the second normalized property comprise identical values.
 48. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 46, the at least one operating environment and at least a second of the plurality of operating environments execute different job scheduling systems.
 49. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 42, wherein the at least one normalization profile is associated with one or more of an enterprise wide policy or a customizable policy associated with a user.
 50. A method for normalizing job properties, the method executed by one or more processors configured to perform a plurality of operations comprising: receiving at least one job property of a job operating on at least one operating environment of a plurality of operating environments, wherein the at least one job property is received in a job scheduling nomenclature of the at least one operating environment, wherein the job scheduling nomenclature of the at least one operating environment is different from a job scheduling nomenclature of at least a second of the plurality of operating environments; identifying at least one normalization profile associated with the at least one operating environment; and applying the at least one normalization profile to the received at least one job property, a result of the application being at least one value associated with the at least one job property, the at least one value being a normalized job property of the at least one job property in a normalized job scheduling nomenclature.
 51. The method of claim 50, wherein the plurality of operations further comprise receiving a request from a user for the at least one job property and providing the at least one normalized job property to the user.
 52. The method of claim 51, wherein receiving a request from a user for the at least one job property further comprises, receiving an incoming message from the user, and parsing the message into one or more request objects, wherein each of the one or more request objects include one or more request parameters.
 53. The method of claim 50, wherein identifying at least one normalization profile further comprises identifying at least one normalization profile from among a plurality of normalization profiles, and wherein at least a second normalization profile of the plurality of normalization profiles is associated with at least the second operating environment.
 54. The method of claim 50, the plurality of operations further comprising: receiving at least a second job property of a job operating on the at least a second of the plurality of operating environments, wherein the at least a second job property is received in a job scheduling nomenclature of the at least a second of the plurality of operating environments; identifying at least a second normalization profile associated with the at least a second of the plurality of operating environments; and applying the at least a second normalization profile to the received at least a second job property, a result of the application being at least a second value associated with the at least a second job property, the at least a second value being a second normalized job property of the at least a second job property in the normalized job scheduling nomenclature.
 55. The method of claim 54, wherein the at least one job property and the at least a second job property comprise different values and the normalized job property and the second normalized property comprise identical values.
 56. The method of claim 54, the at least one operating environment and at least a second of the plurality of operating environments execute different job scheduling systems.
 57. The method medium of claim 50, wherein the at least one normalization profile is associated with one or more of an enterprise wide policy or a customizable policy associated with a user.
 58. A system for normalizing job properties in an enterprise comprising: one or more processors configured to: receive at least one job property of a job operating on at least one operating environment of a plurality of operating environments, wherein the at least one job property is received in a job scheduling nomenclature of the at least one operating environment, wherein the job scheduling nomenclature of the at least one operating environment is different from a job scheduling nomenclature of at least a second of the plurality of operating environments, identify at least one normalization profile associated with the at least one operating environment, and apply the at least one normalization profile to the received at least one job property, a result of the application being at least one value associated with the at least one job property, the at least one value being a normalized job property of the at least one job property in a normalized job scheduling nomenclature.
 59. The system of claim 58, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive a request from a user for the at least one job property and provide the at least one normalized job property to the user.
 60. The system of claim 59, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive a request from a user for the at least one job property further comprises, receive an incoming message from the user, and parse the message into one or more request objects, wherein each of the one or more request objects include one or more request parameters.
 61. The system of claim 58, wherein identification of at least one normalization profile further comprises identification of at least one normalization profile from among a plurality of normalization profiles, and wherein at least a second normalization profile of the plurality of normalization profiles is associated with at least the second operating environment.
 62. The system of claim 58, the one or more processors are further configured to: receive at least a second job property of a job operating on the at least a second of the plurality of operating environments, wherein the at least a second job property is received in a job scheduling nomenclature of the at least a second of the plurality of operating environments; identify at least a second normalization profile associated with the at least a second of the plurality of operating environments; and apply the at least a second normalization profile to the received at least a second job property, a result of the application being at least a second value associated with the at least a second job property, the at least a second value being a second normalized job property of the at least a second job property in the normalized job scheduling nomenclature.
 63. The system of claim 62, wherein the at least one job property and the at least a second job property comprise different values and the normalized job property and the second normalized property comprise identical values.
 64. The system of claim 62, wherein the at least one operating environment and at least a second of the plurality of operating environments execute different job scheduling systems.
 65. The system medium of claim 58, wherein the at least one normalization profile is associated with one or more of an enterprise wide policy or a customizable policy associated with a user. 